Hamilton head coach Sylvain Lefebvre praised Tokarski, who appeared in just his second game since being traded from the Syracuse Crunch.

"(Tokarski) gave us a chance to win," said Lefebvre. "It's a 2-0 game going into the third and you know that if you score one early in the third, it's a different ballgame.

"After the four performances we had and the four wins before that, to come up with a performance like that is pretty disappointing. But at the same time, if anyone doubted Tokarski could stop the puck, they know now."

The loss was the first in five games for the Bulldogs.

Tokarski's first test in the game came when defenceman Greg Pateryn gave the puck away behind his net seven minutes into the first. A quick centring pass found Patrick Rissmiller in the low slot and he took the shot. But Tokarski stayed low and tight to his post to make the save.

McNabb's power-play goal at 10:01 of the first period opened the scoring. Kevin Porter had a solid chance to make it 2-0 with a minute remaining in the frame but the puck went off Tokarski's left shoulder as Rochester outshot Hamilton 18-7.

A swift counter-attack helped put Rochester ahead 2-0 at 1:06 of the second when an outlet pass from Zemgus Girgensons sprung a 2-on-1 break.

Adam opted against making the pass and blasted a slapshot past Tokarski on the short side. Rochester maintained the pressure as Tokarski faced 37 shots through 40 minutes of play while Leggio made 13 saves and faced few challenges.

It was only because of Tokarski's play that Hamilton remained within two goals of Rochester in the third. The Bulldogs pulled the goalie with 2:47 remaining and pressed with the extra attacker but couldn't beat Leggio.

Rochester's 49 shots on goal was the most Hamilton has allowed this season. Tokarski was named as the second star of the game behind Leggio but took no solace from his performance.

"I haven't faced that many (shots) in a long time, but as a goaltender, you've got to be ready to make 20 saves or 50 saves," he said. "Ultimately, they scored more than we did and their goalie outplayed me so I've got to be better."